What
are you looking for in a new position?
Customise your answer to the company you are being interviewed
for, include things like, 'job security', 'career progression',
and so on.
Have
you applied for any other vacancies at this time?
If you are tell the truth, but do not give much information
away- it will only weaken your negotiating position later. If
you do not have any other job offers at presently you could
say something like 'to be quite honest I have been happy in
my current employment so have not been looking actively, however
when Ii saw this role was vacant, I was extremely interested
and hence applied for the position'.
What
did your role involve on a daily basis?
Stress the positive things you have achieved
at your current employment and include any qualifications gained
whilst in this role. Detail exactly what your role involved
and try and relate it to how it could be relevant in this new
position.
How
would you/other people, describe you?
Outline your best characteristics but dont sound arrogant!
Would
you consider yourself to be successful?
Answer this in the positive! Add in some of the recent achievements
you have made that align with the role you re applying for.
What
was has been your greatest achievement during your career?
You should tell them about a work related success that can be
related to the position you are applying for. For example 'I
increased gross sales figures bu over 70% during the past 12
months at XY Company'.
What
has been your worst failure during your career?
Try and pick a minor negative if you can think of one. Something
that you were able to rectify and most importantly learn
from.
How
do you think you could improve yourself?
Do not start listing negatives about yourself here! The interviewer
could well be looking for your achilles heel, and resultantly
a reason not to give you the job. Instead you could say something
neutral and non comittal, like 'I hope to rise to the top of
my field/profession one day in the future'.
How
do you handle criticism?
This is a tricky question! But try and answer with something
like: "I always think that it is important to get feedback
on how I am performing so that I can improve any areas which
my senior or immediate manager highlights. Out of interest,
will I recieve regular appraisals and be able to partake in
a structured staff development plan?"
Would
you say you are a good manager?
Another tricky one, but you can aswer this by saying you are
a good listener to your staff but have very strong delegation
skills and are able to multi task and stay focused on the job
in hand whilst managing others and their 'tasks' to bring about
the desired end result. You must outline the fact that you have
great planning and project management skills as these are essential
facets to being a good manager.
What would you say motivates you?
Some possible answers include Career prospects, the opportunity
to learn new skills, helping others, acheiving tough goals and
targets, building a great team and so on.
Can you motivate other people?
Provided you can truthfully answer yes to this, you could say
you endeavour to find out what motivates a person and ensure
that you always give colleaguese due recognition for a job well
done. You should re enforce the fact that you are a good listener
and your strong social skills give you credibility when you
encourage your staff on daily basis.
What hours are you prepared to work?
You should say you are prepared to work whatever hours are required
to get the job done satisfactorily and on time. DO NOT say something
like a maximum of 39 hours a week....unless you are going for
part time work or shift work!
What are your career goals?
Use the company background information you researched and say
something that corresponds with the goals of the company you
are being interviewed by. For example 'to work in a growing
organisation and contribute heavily towards making the company
a global enterprise' (if it isnt global already of course!).
What sort of interests and hobbies do
you have outside of work?
Your hobbies and interests can tell an employer a great deal
about you, including whether you are a sociable or solitary
character, if you are a team player or a 'solo' type of individual
or if you are someone with a lot of physical endurance (a triathlete
for example) which would strongly suggest that you also have
a lot of mental strength.
Resultantly,
you need to think about exactly what you will say in answer
to this type of question. This information should already be
included in your CV
but you may be asked to expand on it. Be sure to tell the truth
and dont exaggerate about your achievements! For instance if
you run 2 miles once per week, do not say you complete marathons
as a pre meal appetiser!! Employers are in the main intelligent
people and they may suspect what you are saying which will then
cast a shadow over the rest of your interview (e.g. they think
you are a possible liar).
You
don't seem to have stayed with your past employers for very
long?
If you have moved around in employment in the past it may give
the employer second thoughts about your reliability. You can
try and reassure them by saying that your long term career goal
has been to move into a position in XXYY job (the one you are
going for!) and that your past employment has been a stepping
stone to gain a range of experience for such a position.
Do you think your age might be a factor in this position?
This question contravenes UK employment law and an employer
should never overtly (or covertly) ask or think this questions.
Do
you reckon you might be over qualified for this vacancy?
This is an ideal opportunity to outline to the employer why
you think your extra experience makes you stand head and shoulders
above the rest of the crowd. Tell them the extra qualifications
you bring are a positive aspect and that this position is not
just 'a job' but your dream career....
Are
you prepared to relocate for this position?
This one is down to you! Do not feel pressurised into answering
it on the spot. if you know before the interview, calculate
the Pros and Cons and weigh up if you would be prepared to move,
however if this question pops up out of the blue in an interview,
you are well within your rights to say "I would need to
consider that seriously and discuss this with my family, would
I be able to come back to you as soon as I have been able to
do this?"
Provided
the employer is agreeable to you doing this (most would be)
you can take a breather and seriously consider if the job is
worth such an upheaval.
Are
you prepared to travel for this position?
Again if you are,tell them this. You want to try and sound as
positive as possible, so find out previsely how much travlleing
the job entails before you turn it down on these grounds.
How much do you earn at present?
Be cautious when you answer this question! For many employers
it is a great way to put a cap on any salary they may offer
you, but it can also be a crunch question because if you tell
them too high (untruthfully) then you may 'price' yourself out
of the market!
If you are
not solely intent on a big payrise, you could tell them your
current salary but add "however I would be looking for
an improvement on that figure to leave my cuurrent employment".
If you current
salary is not very good at all, and you want a big improvement,
it would be wise to say "I would prefer not to bias any
offer you may by disclosing this information. However the minimum
I would be looking for to leave my current employers is "££XX"
(insert sensible figure here!)
What
do you think your referees will say about you?
Tell them that you expect your references to be excellent.
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